Russell 2000 - potential Diamond Top

Today's action points to further weakness in the Russell 2000 after the index opened up higher, rallied towards trend line resistance and failed, closing the session below the 10 dma. Prior resistance at $117.3 was also violated by days end and above average volume confirmed the bearish intraday move.

A Diamond Top consists of a combination of a Broadening Pattern and a Symmetrical Triangle and usually occurs at the top of a very sharp upward rise in prices. Although less frequent than most patterns it is very profitable must be respected. When the preceding price action occurs as in the Russell, the odds increase that the breakout will be downward and will be equally as steep, and 82% of the time it will retrace the ENTIRE prior rise.

Since a Diamond top produces such profound performance it pays to wait for the breakout. In this case, a break of the rising trend support at $116 - $116.50 will confirm the pattern and most certainly lead to a significant correction in the index.